Steakhouse 71 Lunch Review: Fueling Up Before a Magic Kingdom Party
We tried the onion rings, Gourmet Grilled Cheese, and Stack Burger at Steakhouse 71 before a night at Mickey’s Not-So-Scary Halloween Party at Magic Kingdom. Here is how our Steakhouse 71 lunch review went.
If you have ever tried to power through a full evening of trick-or-treating, Hocus Pocus villain sightings, and a candy sprint that would make an Olympic marathoner tap out, you already know the golden rule of theme park survival: never enter Mickey’s Not-So-Scary Halloween Party on an empty stomach. Park guests with a valid party ticket can start filtering into Magic Kingdom as early as 4 p.m. Magic Kingdom closes to regular day guests at 6 p.m. ahead of the event, and the party itself does not officially kick off until 7 p.m., leaving a surprisingly generous window for a proper sit-down lunch beforehand. We used ours at Steakhouse 71 inside Disney’s Contemporary Resort, and here is exactly how it went.
We have already made the case for why Steakhouse 71’s breakfast is worth setting an early alarm for. Also, we went into embarrassing, borderline unprofessional detail about the Steakhouse 71 breakfast burger a while back. Still, today is about the Steakhouse 71 lunch review.
Before You Visit Steakhouse 71 for Lunch
- Where it is: Steakhouse 71 sits on the first floor of Disney’s Contemporary Resort, right on the monorail loop. That makes it an easy add on if you are staying along the resort monorail line, or a short drive or rideshare if you are not.
- Book the last lunch slot if you have to: Lunch service at Steakhouse 71 wraps up at 2 p.m., and our Advance Dining Reservation was for 1:55 p.m., which is about as close to the buzzer as you can legally get. You can check current lunch offerings on Disney’s official Steakhouse 71 lunch menu page before you book.
- Check in and seating were fast: We checked in at 1:36 p.m. and were seated at 1:41 p.m., a five minute turnaround that we will gladly take, especially on an MNSSHP day when every extra minute in the park matters.
- Seating can run a little tight: We were placed at a table for two along the wall, and it did feel a bit cramped. If elbow room matters to you, it is fair game to politely ask if a roomier table is available.
- Service was a highlight: Our server, like just about every server we have had here, was very polite and attentive.
- Want a visual walkthrough: check out this video of the visit for a closer look at the space and the food.
Steakhouse 71 Lunch Review: What We Ordered
Steakhouse 71 Onion Rings ($10.00)
Hand-breaded and served with a spicy “ranch” dipping sauce, these onion rings are plant-based, and on this visit that was more noticeable than it has been on previous trips. The batter and sauce still did their job, and the rings were solid overall, but plant-based onion rings apparently have main character energy on some days and forget their lines on others.
Gourmet Grilled Cheese ($17.00)
Toasted brioche, Gruyere, smoked Gouda, shredded pork belly, arugula, and caramelized onion jam, served with a choice of Petite Caesar Salad, Steak Fries, or Pasta Salad. This sandwich usually ranks among our favorite orders at Steakhouse 71, but on this visit the other flavors, namely the pork belly and onion jam, pushed the cheese into a supporting role instead of letting it headline, which made the whole thing land as just okay rather than excellent. The bread was well grilled, though the ketchup portion that came with it was small, and the fries were a noticeably smaller portion than we expected.
Stack Burger ($24.00)
Signature beef blend, pork belly, American cheese, lemon aioli, red onion, house-made pickles, and a brioche bun, served with a choice of Petite Caesar Salad, Steak Fries, or Pasta Salad. We first ordered this burger back when Steakhouse 71 opened and have gone back several times since. Yes, we will say it plainly: it is arguably one of the top five burgers on Walt Disney World property. We ranked it accordingly in our roundup of the best burger spots at Walt Disney World, and this visit did nothing to change our mind.
The pasta salad side was fine and better than we remembered. The burger patty carried more pork belly flavor than we recalled, and the burger was well prepared overall. It also, somewhat ironically, seemed to carry more cheese than the Gourmet Grilled Cheese did on this particular day.
Was Steakhouse 71 Lunch Worth It Before MNSSHP?
Short answer: yes. The Stack Burger alone is worth building a lunch reservation around. The onion rings and grilled cheese were both perfectly fine even on an off day, and the quick check-in to seating turnaround meant we were back out the door with plenty of daylight left to make our way toward the party. If you are booking a Mickey’s Not-So-Scary Halloween Party day and want a real, sit-down meal before trick-or-treating takes over your evening, a late lunch reservation at Steakhouse 71 is a smart way to fuel up without eating into your party time.
For more on this same dining day, listen to Episode 678 of the podcast, and for more Steakhouse 71 coverage, check out our breakfast follow-up review and our original breakfast burger review.
For more theme park dining reviews, visit MSM News every weekday at noon Eastern Time. Additionally, we sometimes post bonus theme park dining reviews. As always, eat like you mean it!
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